It's about getting the industry to turn the corner at scale globally," Webb said. Webb was named a World Rugby Council RFU representative in 2016. CSC Leasing: Non-dilutive Funding for AgTech Startups, Americas Cultivation Corridor: We Grow AgTech Innovation, As demand for protein grows Sustainable Planet bets on water lentils as a viable alternative to soya, How not to fail in vertical farming: Be on guard for hubris, say Indoor Ag-Con speakers, International Fresh Produce Association launches 2023 Fresh Field Catalyst Accelerator program, BREAKING: Perfect Day animal-free dairy patent in US challenged, What is the role of biotech in an ethical food system? Youre reading a free article with opinions that may differ from The Motley Fools Premium Investing Services. That's because of our inefficient systems in the supply chain. The human spirit is willing to do a lot. But if you look at the current food system today, it's high fructose corn syrup, it's sugary food that has low nutrient density. On today's show, AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb talks about AgTech (agriculture tech), the third wave of sustainable infrastructure. Once operational, it will ship 45 million pounds of fresh produce annually to grocery stores in the Midwest and Southeast. His grandmother grew up in Whitley County, where a coal mining accident killed his great-grandfather. It doesn't need to be one or the other, it needs to be both, and we're happy to be a bit of a public benefit corporation and B Corp certified. Instead of just being able to tell a grocer 24-hours in advance here's the quality of product and here's when it will be shipped, with robotics going down the rows scanning the plants, we'll be able to get to days out and weeks out of being able to predict the yield, predict the quality, give more information to the grocer on when that product is going to be coming. 20years ago it was renewable energy. In the latter, Webb was the only English player to score in the game. Jonathan Webb was born on 24 August 1963, in London, England. Theyre designed to be safe around people. The business combination values AppHarvest at a $1.0 billion pro forma equity value, at the $10.00 per share PIPE price and assuming minimal redemptions by Novus Capital shareholders. It's therefore worth looking at AppHarvest's earnings history below. He has become a prominent social media star. I want to know what the problems are from them, not just our executive team. For example, we use integrated pest management, good pest to kill bad pest. Part of it is we're building companies not just for today and not just for the quarterly earnings call today, we're building this company for the next generation. Other AppHarvest investors include TV cook Martha Stewart, VC veteran Peter Thiel, ValueAct Capitals Spring Fund, Revolutions Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Equilibrium Capital, and Narya the new VC firm co-founded by JD Vance, author of best-selling Appalachian memoir Hillbilly Elegy. There's a level of rigor that comes with that, and so for us, the SPAC was just a vehicle. We want to be selling to 90% of America. ESG should be at the core of profitability and it should be at the core of building a resilient company. Your email address will not be published. Moser: Yeah. Webb: Well, I'll start by saying, anyone that is growing good, clean produce, without harsh chemical pesticides, I try to call them my colleagues, not competitors. Since then, AppHarvest shares have plunged 70%. Originally from Kentucky, Webb is dedicated to sustainable projects in Central Appalachia. Jonathan Webb is the Founder and CEO of AppHarvest, a company that combines conventional agricultural techniques with cutting-edge technology to address My answer to that is always; sustainability is profitability. Since joining HFW in 2004, Mr. Webb has specialized in P&I and FD&D for ship owners. We look forward to providing you with even more cutting-edge market research, as Topio Networks. AppHarvest raised over $475 million in a public IPO, but it is not over. Kentucky has been experiencing record amounts of rainfall in recent years, so for Webb, the location was obvious. Linked companies : AppHarvest, Inc. Summary. We've been very fortunate and humbled that the Root AI team is fully a part of the AppHarvest team building robotics that's operating on AI, collecting data. Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services. We look at them over the course of time, years, and hopefully, decades we can be a part of that journey with you all. 10 stocks we like better thanWalmartWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have an investing tip, it can pay to listen. Cell ag experts weigh in, Keep calm and carry on: Navigating the trough of disillusionment for plant-based meat, Its been a very dark week Miyoko Schinner hits back as company accuses her of hatching plot to steal IP, With $3bn in deals, top 10 climate x agrifoodtech startups prove themselves a vital part of climate tech ecosystem, BII eyes full-stack startups, ag marketplaces & embedded financing as it earmarks funds for Africa, Smoke & mirrors, not worth the extra cost: 50 US farmers speak out on carbon markets. Then we have to remember this isn't just a U.S. problem we're trying to solve. We were just talking earlier and you mentioned how you're in the DC area, it was fortunate that we had Steve Case, the founder of AOL, and he fundraised the rest. To access all the content for free, please sign up by entering your email. But in its entirety not only do we have a problem we want to solve, we have a place in the world that wants to solve it with us., A crop care specialist carries boxes of tomatoes through a column of crops, pruning as she goes, I got to visit AppHarvest in November, and the sheer enthusiasm Webb has built in his staff is phenomenal. Appharvest has in August is launching what it describes as the worlds largest greenhouse later this year, consisting of a 2.76 million square foot facility in Morehead, Kentucky. We need to all collectively have a much more longer-term viewpoint on how we're building companies that are going to be good for communities, good for employees, and return a good return to our investors and shareholders. There has been nothing more impactful on farming since that time, and now, it's AI robotics and using data to make decisions. WebJonathan Webb, AppHarvest Inc: Profile and Biography - Bloomberg Markets Live Now Bloomberg TV+ Leaders with Lacqua:Mark Read WPP CEO Bloomberg Radio Meet the Not only picking, pruning, harvesting, being able to actually get the tomato off the vine, and ultimately, shipped out, but also the predictive analytics that we can use. How do you feel about coming public a lot earlier than you probably would've normally? My competition in Mexico, you have people getting paid $5 a day. Jonathan Webb - Insider Trading Tracker - Fintel I think it's clear that investors should really be excited for the future of AgTech. One of AppHarvest's Crop Care Specialists operates a tomato-picking robot. Thanks as always to Tim Sparks for putting the show together for us. He practices at Mayo Clinic Hospital Eau Claire. Yes, today, we met our quarterly earnings projection, we hit our guidance, but we're making the hard investments and spending the hard time to set an organization up that's going to thrive 10 and 20 years from now. AppHarvest raised $500 million on its balance sheet this year, went public on the Nasdaq, hired 400 people to work in its first facility, and brought its first product, beefsteak tomatoes, to grocery stores including Kroger, Walmart, and Publix. Founder of AppHarvest, Inc., AppHarvest Morehead Farm LLC and By the end of next year, well quadruple that. There's not going to be one food company feeding the world. Were building important stuff with long-standing value, so the Great Resignation has actually helped us acquire talent.. CEOs can get lazy and only worry about the last 90 days; thats easy. Jonathan Webb, AppHarvest Inc: Profile and Biography No. Jonathan Webb is a specialist knee surgeon and a former English rugby union fullback. It sounds like there's a lot of potential there. We use bees to pollinate our plans. Typically, you would do 40 to 60 meetings to get a couple of investors. Jonathan Webb, Founder & CEO, AppHarvest Same platform but with new and improved features. The president and CEO, Paul Mastronardi said, "We want every AppHarvest tomato they can grow. We can get to 70% of the U.S. in a one-day drive. In its Nov. 7 filing, AppHarvest reported net losses of $83 million for the first nine months of the year and net sales of $10 million, with an accumulated deficit of $270 million. We're laser-focused on getting this right here. But I wanted to ask you before we do, the Root AI acquisition. Now, our job is to make sure it's at around the same price. But to our investors the question and I got this on the roadshow, I'm in this to make money, great. AppHarvest Went From Seed to $1 Billion in Just 3 Years Jeff Ubben on investing in AppHarvest - CNBC He acknowledges that scaling up so quickly in the middle of a pandemic is, almost unheard of in the current world. He noted that in traditional agriculture, most everything happens incrementally, But now is not a time for incrementalism the thing that needs to be added to that recipe is folks [like Webb] that want to be aggressive in getting us ready for a world where its hard to grow crops.. WebJonathan Webb. Jonathan, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to see just more about AppHarvest to talk about all the stuff that you're trying to accomplish there. AppHarvest (APPH) CEO Jonathan Webb said the company has its eyes on the long term as it looks to "institutionalize" controlled environment agriculture (CEA). We dont have two planets though, so Webb got creative. To make the world smarter, happier, and richer. For young people, we've invested heavily in high school education here in this region and part of it is, we're not just building facilities, we're building an ecosystem and part of that is change the narrative that farming is simply outdoors and on a tractor, we very much respect American farmers, we have great respect for the four-season farmer that's putting food on our table but we have to get young people to think, the average age of the American farmer is about 60 years old, and so for us by investing in high schools, it's teaching young people you're operating a farm with an iPhone and iPad using industrial sensors, with robotics operating on AI. If you look at AppHarvest, what are we doing? What are you trying to accomplish? I think that's going to be something that just continues to get into the public's mind. Learn More. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. We arent burning through cash with pointless R&D when we can buy incredible technologies over in the Netherlands, Webb says. He is an ex-rugby player who represented England from 1987 to 1993, reaching the World Cup Final and winning two Five Nations grand slam titles. "We see this as a couple-decade journey, and really, we're in our first decade," Webb told Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman at the 2022 SXSW Conference (video above). MOREHEAD, Ky., Feb. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AppHarvest, Inc. (NASDAQ: APPH, APPHW), a sustainable food company, public benefit corporation and Certified B Corp building some of the worlds largest high-tech indoor farms to grow affordable, nutritious fruits and vegetables at scale while providing good jobs in If you look at the grocery and then you go, wait a second. But the journey hasnt been without pitfalls. Its service leadership; our team does not work for me, I work for our team., To that effect, hes imparted a lesson to each of his team members: Every day, help five people. If people remember that ice storm back in February, our facility operated, ramping up into full capacity with no issues in the middle of a global pandemic and the middle of an ice storm. You've had fast-food chains, that is one of the biggest risk to a grocer is the paranoia and being terrified of where that product is being grown. Are we perfect? We're investing in our workforce. Again, if we look at agriculture, there's a lot of trouble in our current agriculture system and we can use ESG metrics to clean up our food supply and create better food systems. We had 22 meetings and had almost 20 yeses. Very few passed on this deal and we eventually had to cancel meetings., Webb describes the SPAC transaction and PIPE financing experience as absolutely phenomenal.. Again, for us, it's about keeping our head down, growing good fruit and vegetables. This is a BETA experience. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. I mean, all of the stuff that you just talked about really does matter. If you look at the largest grocers in the U.S., we're selling to Kroger, Walmart, Publix, and we're selling to Wendy's. The greenhouse, completed in 2020, yields up to 30 times the crops a traditional farm would, Webb said. The High Stakes of the Roundup Cancer Lawsuit: Why Billions of Dollars are on the Line, 5 Ways to Get Money for Investment Property. We want to make sure you get the most out of our platform. I'm sure it was an exciting time. The estimated value when the deal closes will be about a billion dollars for the company. Karrie, on the other hand, has not disclosed her salary or income. Webb is a consistent presence at the companys flagship greenhouse in Morehead. Jonathan Webb - Biography - MarketScreener.com Despite the off quarter, Webb has much to celebrate. Webb, a Kentucky native and University of Kentucky graduate, says he remains committed to his goal of employing large numbers of people at high-tech farms around the eastern half of the state. "Greenwashing" Doesn't Work: Jonathan Webb, Founder & CEO, A SPAC is formed with the sole purpose of raising capital through an IPO in order to acquire an existing privately-held company and take it public. Get stock recommendations, portfolio guidance, and more from The Motley Fool's premium services. Prior to founding AppHarvest, Jonathan supported the Executive Director of the Army Office of Energy Initiatives to help meet the White House goal of supplying 20% of the Department of Defenses electricity usage from renewable By us running on completely recycled rainwater, we have no water cost. Purpose At Work: How AppHarvests On A Mission To Help As founder and CEO of AppHarvest, Ive been listening to a podcast called The Future of Farming and Investing, where Jonathan Webb discusses how AppHarvest has built a three-million-square-foot indoor farm, twice as large as Amazons largest distribution center. Offers may be subject to change without notice. No one else in America is doing something at that scale. Executive Vice President and Head of Enterprise Development, Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry, Contract Support (U.S. Army Office of Energy Initiatives), Intelligent Assistance and Bots Ecosystem. That's, for us, again, there's a piece where we need to be very close to the product and that's we're optimizing for the plant. You can also compare Dr. Webb with other orthopedic surgeons in Eau Claire to find the one that best suits your needs. What is AppHarvest to you? Jonathan Webb: AppHarvest, we're based here in Central Appalachia and we're building some of the world's largest controlled environment agricultural facilities. 95% of a fruit and vegetable is water. According to Webb, going public has helped the company focus on the big picture. On Twitter, the actor shares his personal experiences with his followers. That narrow focus on societal good is what has kept AppHarvest fully staffed throughout the pandemic. Webb founded it in 2017 in his native Kentucky; it became a certified B Corp two years later. Theyre looking for purpose in their life; theyre looking for companies like us.. We're going to be based in Central Appalachia. Ten years ago, Tesla made electric vehicles popular in the mainstream, and right now, it's controlled environment agriculture. AppHarvest In 1985, he joined Bristol Rugby and won the John Player Cup. AppHarvest is known for its approach to CEA, which Webb called the "third wave of sustainable infrastructure." His vision of the future of farming and much, much more. I was very fortunate. Vance, and politicians of both parties, Jonathan left Washington and came home to Kentucky, where he now works tirelessly to make the eastern part of the state the AgTech capital of America. The deal is slated to bring in $475 million in gross proceeds for Kentucky-based AppHarvest, including a private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction worth $375 million from existing and new investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Inclusive Capital, and Novus. If I can sell you a grocer, a product at around the same price, what are we solving for? It hopes to expand into leafy greens, berries, cucumbers, and bell peppers in the future. That's our headquarters. I mean, that is right in line. He was born into a medical family. We need to change the profits versus purpose narrative; purpose drives profit and, ultimately, is what makes an organization durable and resilient for decades to come, Webb told Fortune. At one point, we were thinking of putting up a billboard in front of several large tech company offices saying, Come build tech that matters, Webb said. I'm sitting in the heart of coal country right now. I fundamentally do not think its a tradeoff. With that difficult work that in mind, Webb has designed his company to grow as much produce as possible as sustainably as possible. Clearly, the younger generation is coming up, sustainability matters, better food matters. You are speaking our language here at The Fool. Although his net worth is impressive, its important that you remember that he doesnt have to act alone to be wealthy. Thank you for accessing our content on the Topio Networks Market Intelligence Center. WebFounder & CEO, AppHarvest Kentucky native and University of Kentucky graduate Jonathan Webb is turning his dream of a high-tech farming hub in Appalachia into reality with AppHarvest. This article will briefly review the most important information. One of the things we like to discuss as investors and when we find companies, we find businesses that we like and we want to be owners of. Webb: Well, the last great technological revolution in American farming is really when the tractor was introduced. I feel like with AppHarvest, at least, my takeaway, I found a lot of things that make you all special. The fired Google engineer who thought its A.I. He is also becoming more involved with green shipping and is a council member of the London Shipping Law Centre. I love your long-term focus. Webb is an expert in reconstructive and arthroscopic surgery. "Tech for good the consumer wants it. Jonathan Webb grew up in Kentucky and has been committed to developing He has published numerous papers on the topic of knee ligament injuries, arthroscopic surgery, and other techniques. "You look at renewable energy 20 years ago, electric vehicles 10 years ago, if we want to get CEA to be institutional at scale, not only in households with consumers, you really need that rigor of the public markets and that attention of the public markets to help institutionalize an industry," he said. I don't want to keep you all day, but before we wrap it up, I did want to talk to you a little bit about ESG, environmental sustainability governance issues. You start to do the math, and realize you might need two planet earths to have enough land and water to grow that food.. Here, we've had three years out of the last ten years in Kentucky have been our wettest years on state record. What's that Harvest's secret sauce? Jonathan Webb poses in front of his giant greenhouse, When you look at human civilization, what do you need? Why locate in Appalachia? When people and robots work together, its actually more productive than robots alone or people alone. On a traditional farm, there are a seemingly infinite number of tasks to do at any given moment, so adding some computers to make it more efficient doesnt mean that human farmers will be anywhere near obsolete any time soon. Now, his company AppHarvest (the name is a play on both Appalachia and the high-tech nature of what they do), operates a sixty acre greenhouse in Morehead, Kentucky that grows hydroponic tomatoes up to the ceiling. Terms & Conditions. Before founding AppHarvest, Jonathan worked with the U.S. Department of Defense on the largest solar project in the Southeastern United States. Follow him on Twitter to get more updates. AppHarvest CEO envisions 'couple-decade journey' after going public That might sound straight from science fiction, but AppHarvests CTO Josh Lessing, who designed many of these universal harvesting systems says we only think that because farming has been so slow to innovate. The private markets can be a part of every solution we have that we're seeing today. WebJonathan Webb, the CEO of AppHarvest, says water scarcity is a growing national security concern as a heatwave continues to wreak havoc on the West Coast. You may opt-out by. He holds a legal degree from the University of Natal as well as the University of Cape Town. There's going to be a lot of companies hopefully working to solve our food and agriculture problems. The system it uses reportedly reduces water usage by 90% compared to traditional open-field agriculture, while also eliminating runoff. I mean, I think that kind of speaks for itself. "And we don't think we could do that if we weren't in the public markets.". We're one of four companies that are publicly traded that have both of those as a company. We're ramping up this first facility in the middle of a global pandemic, we had an ice storm. But if you look at all the problems in the agriculture system, this industry really solves most of those problems. Were investing heavily in our future, so were spending heavily today, he said. The deal is slated to bring in $475 million in gross proceeds for Kentucky-based AppHarvest, including a private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction It feels like this is something that really is just getting some traction here. Webb was also the first LPGA player to win $1 million in a single season, finishing first on the year-end money list. I have a 16 and then going on 15-year-old daughters. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Also referred to as blank check companies, the mechanism has existed for several years but has received increased attention of late. Jonathan Webb, CEO of agricultural technology and indoor farming startup AppHarvest, wants investors and founders alike to know that he doesnt struggle to balance purpose and profit; if a company loses track of the former, its only a matter of time until it loses the latter. The company is building some of the largest indoor farms in the world, combining conventional agricultural techniques with todays technology to grow non-GMO, chemical-free produce to be. His extensive experience and knowledge in the field have led to his reputation as a leading knee surgeon in the UK. We want to be at Kroger. In the 1987 Rugby World Cup, Webb made his debut for England. In light of the challenges AppHarvest has faced in its early stages, Webb expressed hope that younger generations like Gen Z and millennials would continue to innovate and "fight through" any obstacles in their way. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Jonathan about the growing opportunity in the AgTech space. Dr. Webb graduated at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. WebThe following charts show the stock performance of securities subsequent to each open-market, non-planned trade made by Jonathan Webb. Yes, maybe we're paying marginally more in the short-term, but that workforce is the one that's beating production targets daily.
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